Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) has taken another major step toward its 2030 carbon-negative goal by expanding its partnership with carbon removal company UNDO. The tech giant has agreed to purchase 28,900 tonnes of permanent CO₂ removals, backed by an innovative financing structure from Inlandsis, a Canadian climate fund managed by Fondaction Asset Management.
The deal—estimated to be worth over $5 million based on current Enhanced Rock Weathering (ERW) credit prices—marks Microsoft’s third and largest purchase from UNDO to date.
It follows earlier commitments in 2023 and 2024, bringing the company’s total removals with UNDO to nearly 49,000 tonnes.
Financing the Next Frontier of Carbon Removal
To keep global warming below 1.5°C, the world must remove billions of tonnes of CO₂ from the atmosphere by mid-century. But achieving that scale requires more than promising technology. It demands financing structures that can fund large-scale deployment and reward verified results.
That’s where Inlandsis plays a crucial role. The fund has developed a first-of-its-kind debt financing model to fully support UNDO’s latest ERW project. The structure ensures that capital is deployed in sync with verified progress, effectively tying funding to real-world delivery.
UNDO’s CEO Jim Mann described the model as a turning point for the industry:
“Innovative financing is the catalyst for unlocking gigatonne-scale carbon removal. The support of Inlandsis shows how financial backers can help transform carbon removal into a genuine asset class, one that is scalable, tradable, and investable. By combining financial innovation, strategic partnerships and bleeding-edge science, UNDO is accelerating deployment and delivering both climate and agricultural benefits in Ontario and beyond.”
By blending financial innovation, strategic partnerships, and rigorous science, UNDO is proving that enhanced rock weathering can be both a credible carbon removal method and an investable business model.
Additionally, the company’s focus on transparent MRV (measurement, reporting, and verification) ensures that every credit sold is backed by evidence and durability.
Microsoft’s Evidence-Backed Commitment
Microsoft’s partnership with UNDO has evolved gradually but strategically—each stage built on verified outcomes and increasing scientific confidence.
- 2023: Microsoft made its first-ever ERW purchase with a 5,000-tonne agreement.
- 2024: The company followed up with 15,000 tonnes and additional funding to strengthen scientific measurement and monitoring.
- 2025: This latest deal for 28,900 tonnes represents the company’s largest ERW investment yet.
The steady growth signals Microsoft’s confidence in the integrity and scalability of enhanced rock weathering. It also reflects a shift in the carbon removal market, where buyers are moving from pilot projects to multi-year, performance-based partnerships.
Phillip Goodman, Director of Microsoft’s Carbon Removal Portfolio, underscored the importance of science-led delivery,
“Enhanced rock weathering is a promising pathway to gigatonne-scale carbon removal. UNDO’s commitment to scientific rigour gives us confidence in both the durability of these credits and their role in helping Microsoft achieve its goal of being carbon negative by 2030.”
For Microsoft, this approach ensures that every tonne purchased represents verified, durable removal—not speculative offsets. The company’s portfolio strategy emphasizes transparency, permanence, and continuous improvement.
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Backing UNDO: Insurance-Enabled, Bankable Carbon Solutions
For Inlandsis, the UNDO deal marks two significant milestones: it is the fund’s first ERW investment and its first Canadian project under its second climate fund. These achievements underscore how carbon finance is evolving—shifting from traditional offset models to evidence-backed removal financing.
David Moffat, Managing Director at Inlandsis, said the project highlights a new direction for climate investment:
“This strategic and innovative deal strengthens the growing relationship between Microsoft and UNDO while advancing the critical fight against climate change. It also reflects our commitment to financing credible, scalable carbon solutions in Canada and beyond.”
Adding another layer of security, the deal is underwritten by CFC, a specialized insurance provider for the carbon markets. CFC’s involvement de-risks the transaction by ensuring compensation if project milestones aren’t met—an emerging best practice in carbon finance.
Such insurance-backed financing is becoming a cornerstone for scaling carbon removal. It gives both investors and lenders the confidence to fund long-term projects, accelerating deployment and making climate solutions bankable.
A Replicable Model for the Carbon Market
This financing structure is designed to meet the needs of all players in the carbon ecosystem:
- Buyers like Microsoft get verified, durable credits with transparent evidence.
- Lenders gain confidence through milestone-based repayment tied to credit issuance.
- Farmers benefit from predictable, low-disruption operations that align with agricultural cycles.
By ensuring that capital flows only after verified results, the model turns projected tonnes into measured, issued removals. It’s a practical, transparent framework that can be replicated across regions and scales.
UNDO’s growing list of partners—Microsoft, Barclays, British Airways, and McLaren—illustrates strong corporate demand for high-integrity removals. Each new deal builds capacity for UNDO’s operations, allowing it to scale faster while maintaining scientific rigor.
Ground-Level Action: Every Rock, Every Acre, Every Record
Under the new agreement, UNDO will deploy 90,000 tonnes of crushed wollastonite, a calcium silicate rock, across 30,000 acres of Canadian farmland. The operation is designed to fit seamlessly within normal farming practices, using existing machinery and scheduled around planting and harvest.
The delivery process is transparent and data-rich:
- Equipment is calibrated and GPS-tracked.
- Every load of rock is logged and verified.
- Soil and porewater samples are collected at multiple intervals and analyzed in accredited labs.
- Each sample follows a strict chain of custody from field to lab to final data report.
These steps ensure that every credit issued represents real, measured carbon removal. UNDO’s system links field operations with verified outcomes, providing partners with full traceability from quarry to credit.
UNDO’s ERW process
Science-Led, Evidence-Based Removals
Enhanced rock weathering accelerates a natural process where CO₂ reacts with silicate minerals in rock, forming stable carbonates that lock away carbon for thousands of years.
UNDO’s science-first approach ensures that every aspect—from sampling design to lab analysis—is statistically sound and auditable. Sampling plans are written in advance for accuracy, include control plots, and specify precise locations and timing for collection.
Once samples are analyzed, results go through multiple quality control checks, and data are tied to GPS coordinates and timestamps. Life-cycle emissions from quarrying, transportation, and spreading are subtracted, and uncertainty margins are conservatively applied before credits are issued.
Issuance happens only after independent verification, meaning each credit represents net carbon removed, not just projected outcomes. This evidence-led methodology helps ensure transparency and credibility, both essential for scaling trust in the carbon market.
A Blueprint for Scalable Carbon Removal
This partnership between Microsoft, UNDO, and Inlandsis represents a powerful new model for how the carbon removal sector can grow. It combines long-term purchasing commitments, performance-linked finance, scientific validation, and insurance-backed assurance into one scalable framework.
The collaboration also offers a clear path for other companies and investors: pair proven carbon removal science with structured, delivery-based finance to accelerate real climate impact.
As UNDO expands operations, its combination of practical field deployment, scientific transparency, and financial accountability will serve as a blueprint for scaling carbon removal across geographies.
The next phase is focused on steady execution—planning rock supply, coordinating farm deployments, and sharing verified progress through public reporting. Each season adds data, strengthens methodologies, and builds confidence in the durability of ERW as a global climate tool.
The Surge in Verified Removals Signals Market Maturity
Microsoft’s (MSFT stock) $5 million partnership with UNDO is a signal of market maturity. It shows how science-based removal, innovative finance, and transparent delivery can work together to build a credible, investable carbon market.
Allied Offsets data showed that in the first quarter of 2025, around 780,000 CDR credits were contracted — a surge of 122% compared to the same period in 2024.
Additionally, 16 million credits were sold in the first six months of 2025 – marking it the strongest start to a year so far. The momentum is fueled by major buyers like Microsoft, aiming to be carbon negative by 2030. Also rise in biomass-based removal methods that are reshaping corporate offset strategies is contributing to the growth.
Market Highlights
As the world races to reach net zero, this deal stands out as a real-world example of progress: a partnership that delivers measured, permanent carbon removal, financed and verified with integrity.
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